OBIEE Client Connectivity setup

If you are using OBIEE 11g client tools to create your own RPD or connecting to a Database to import metadata or trying to open the RPD online, you need to first configure the connectivity options for the OBIEE client.

You can connect to a DB source using either ODBC or OCI. If you want to connect via OCI, follow these steps.

1. Install a Database client on your client machine. e.g. Oracle Database client for 11g. You can also install Oracle XE on your local machine.
2. Make sure the database client libraries are available in the system path. If not, append this to the System path. Alternately you can set it in the bi_init.bat located at C:\Program Files\Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition Plus Client\oraclebi\orahome\bifoundation\server\bin

   

3. Locate where your tnsnames.ora file is present (Usually you can find it in  D:\app\Administrator\product\11.2.0\client_1\network\admin).In the tnsnames.ora file create an entry for the DB you want to connect to. For example to connect to the local Database on my laptop, the entry is shown.
   ORCL11GRT = (DESCRIPTION = (ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL = TCP)(HOST = localhost)(PORT = 1521)) (CONNECT_DATA = (SERVER = DEDICATED) (SERVICE_NAME = orcl11grt) ) )
4. copy the tnsnames.ora file from your Database location to the OBIEE client location. This is usually in C:\Program Files\Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition Plus Client\oraclebi\orahome\network\admin

   Note: If the network –> admin directories are not present, you must create them.

5. Restart the BIAdminTool and try to import the metadata from the server mentioned in the tns entry. If the configuration is correct and there is no network problems, you should be able to connect and import the metadata in your RPD.